Camp for teens blends career, community

With her iPod in one hand and a shopping list in the other, Nadine Quitugua paced in front of a Fred Meyer entrance, coaxing people to buy toiletries for homeless teens.

She and 14 other youths, all participants in the It’s Your Thang Youth Career Camp, were inspired to hold a supply drive by a recent visit to the Crosswalk shelter for homeless teenagers.

A slight sway emerged as the hip-hop beats seeped from the earbud plugging Quitugua’s ear. The other bud dangled in front of her, swinging like her long black ponytail as she walked.

“I’m lost without music,” Quitugua explained before giving a list and her spiel to a passing customer.

The woman smiled warmly, promising to look it over and help out.

“I love nice people because some people be ruuude,” Quitugua, 14, said to her fellow campers resting in the shade of the entryway.

The teens are near the end of the first-ever camp, which provides career development, community awareness and service opportunities to teens from the East Central neighborhood and surrounding areas. Many are minorities living in a low-income housing project, Richard Allen Court, said camp co-director Delena Martin.

The campers toured Crosswalk two weeks ago and heard stories from peers who “really don’t have much,” said camper Lashawn Daniel, 15.

“It was hard hearing about that,” she said. “Their parents really don’t care about them and kick them out.”

On Tuesday at the Thor Street Fred Meyer, the campers gathered supplies for the shelter, which provides clothing, job placement, health care, drug abuse treatment and college scholarships to teens who have been raped or abused, are at high risk for depression or suicide, have family conflicts or lack education.

Camper Cherae Potter, 16, knows some of the Crosswalk residents.

“I’ve seen a lot of it personally,” she said.

A shopper pushed her cart up to the bins overflowing with toothpaste, razors and feminine products and handed the teens a large box of Popsicles.

“Just to keep you cool,” she said. “I know you all are cool anyway.”

The teens laughed, thanked her and dug in.

Aside from completing service projects, the campers will visit local college campuses, meet professionals from more than 50 fields and participate in team-building exercises such as rock climbing and a rope course by the end of camp next Friday. They also learn how to dress for job interviews and create a résumé.

“We’re not just throwing field trip parties,” Martin said. “We’re bringing in staff that know how to engage kids.”

Martin, who lived in East Central foster care as a teen, said most campers are low-income minorities who don’t have the same opportunities as many other kids.

“This demographic is the most ignored group of kids out there … with so few options given to them,” she said. “(The camp) gives them perspectives they’ve never seen before. It gives them a view of life different than they’ve ever seen.”

The camp is a pilot program developed and sponsored by the East Central Community Organization, Eastern Washington University, Kiemle & Hagood and the Richard Allen Court board of directors. There was an extensive application process for the 15 spots, Martin said.

At the beginning of camp, many of the teens weren’t interested in college or didn’t know how to apply; now they all see college in their future, she said.

Potter said her favorite trip was to City Hall, where the campers met employees of the mayor’s office and City Council.

However, fun is still a large part of the daily agenda. So far, the group has played laser tag, gone to the movies, played in the park and visited Splash Down Waterpark. On their last day, they’ll visit Silverwood Theme Park. Attendance is rewarded. If the teens miss four days or fewer, they receive $200.

Quitugua admitted that, like many others, the money triggered her application to the camp. “But I actually like it now. I can communicate with them,” she said, glancing at her fellow campers.

Kiyahna Gardner, 15, who hopes to be a nurse and a writer, plans to get an iPod with her stipend.

“I didn’t think it’d be as fun as it is,” she said as she headed over to another shopper.

“I’d probably be just waking up right now.”